The Who, What, Why, When and How of Working with an Editor

Join San Diego Memoir Writers Association and our star-studded editor’s panel:

Lynette M. Smith. All My Best was established in 2004; proprietor Lynette M. Smith has over 30 years of copyediting experience and is also an award-winning nonfiction author. Focusing on non-technical fiction and nonfiction books (MS Word formatting, copyediting, eBook-formatting, and PDF layout), theses and dissertations (MS Word formatting and copyediting in APA style), and marketing collateral (MS Word copyediting and PDF-layout proofreading in AP style). Subject specialties include business, humanities/social sciences, marketing, psychology, spirituality, and self-help; projects include articles, memoirs, adult and young-adult novels, nonfiction business and other books, and marketing materials. (Sorry, unable to accept projects involving Chicago-style footnotes or endnotes.)

Larry M. Edwards is an award-winning author, editor, and publisher of nonfiction and fiction. His memoir Dare I Call It Murder?: A Memoir of Violent Loss, garnered top honors at the San Diego Book Awards for 2013, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and became a top seller on Amazon.com in both Memoir and True Crime categories. Among the many memoirs he has edited, Accidental Immigrants took top honors in the San Diego Book Awards for 2014. His short story By the Light of the Moon took first place in the San Diego Books Awards for 2016. As an editor and publisher, Murder Survivor’s Handbook: Real-Life Stories, Tips & Resources won a Gold Award in the 2015 Benjamin Franklin book awards competition sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association. Larry worked as journalist and editor for local, national, and international publications for nearly three decades. He currently works as a freelance writer, editor, and publishing consultant. Outside of writing and editing, Edwards plays the fiddle in old-time music and bluegrass bands.

Erin Willard is the owner of a gentle copyediting business aptly named Erin Willard, Copy Editor. Her copyediting experience has included work with manuscripts of award-winning novels and non-fiction and creative non-fiction books in a variety of genres, specializing in encouraging, protecting, and giving a final polish to the voices of new writers, seasoned professionals, and those in between. She is an active member of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and the American Copy Editors Society (ACES) and is currently serving as a member of the board of directors of the San Diego Professional Editors Network (SD/PEN).